[DJR25]

Hey everyone, brief introduction. My name is Doug, I'm currently a mechanical engineering student and my goal is to learn the ins and outs of multi-axis machining with the dendford in order to design and build a large scale router for making molds in the near future. I have a very basic understanding of electrical systems and circuit components as well as basic programming skills.

My CAD/CAM package is solidworks/camworks and I will be running the machine with Mach3. I'm currently trying to decide the best way to convert the micromill so that it will support this package. After a few days of google research it appears that some guys are able to replace one of the boards using a breakout board, a 96 pin connector and a few servo connectors and run the existing hardware this way. Others have or are saying to swap out most of the guts with a gecko g540 and with some tweaking run it that way.

What is the Best way to go about converting this mill? I'm taking on a steep learning curve in the shortest amount of time possible so please feel free to post any and all pieces of literature, schematics, and diagrams that you feel is relevant. All help is greatly appreciated.

Attached is a pic of the mill and steppers. Shortly I'll pull off the back panel and take a few pics of the hardware.

-Doug

[Fastest1]

We will wait for the pictures of the electronics however you are in luck. Those are square steppers, they are more powerful than their round predecessors.

The mill is a Sherline. All mechanical parts are available.

It is an easy conversion using a G540 (you can reuse the power supply of the original machine if budget dictates, my opinion is to get the highest voltage the system will allow). The G540 can accept a max of 48 vdc. With some simple wiring most likely have it running in a few hours. Especially if there is a member here willing to help that is familiar with it all.

[DJR25]

Hey Fastest1 that's good news about the steppers! In the name of science I'm allotting myself a pretty healthy budget for this build (within reason of course) but I want it to be clean and done right.

If I go the g540 route I'll buy a power supply for it. I'm looking at the 48v/7.3A, 48v/8.3A, and the 48v/12.5A which requires 220 but that's not a problem, I have 220 wired in my basement. Gecko suggests choosing your power rating by multiplying the (number of steppers X rated amperage of stepper X 0.6). That puts me at 3.6A for 3-Axis and 4.8A if I make it a 4-Axis in the future. A seller on ebay claims that the 48v supply is required when the inductance of the stepper is greater than 5mH. Looking up the specs on the steppers shows that when the connection type is [Bipolar(series)] the inductance is 10mH/phase and when [Bipolar(parallel)] and [Unipolar] the inductance of both systems are 2.5mH/phase. What are your thoughts on this and which supply would you suggest? Also what do the different connection types do and is that something I can wire up for whichever is optimum?

Would a power supply and g540 alone do the trick or will I still need a breakout board, and will the g540 control the spindle?

Yes, wiring help would be awesome. If anybody has diagrams or a schem, please chime in. I'm definitely exited about it being a Sherline, there seems to be an assortment of awesome ad-ons. A coolant system, auto zero, and digitizer will be the first to come once I get it running.

Fastest1, thanks for the response. Attached are pics of the electronics, Let me know what you think.

-Dougcncpicks.zip

[Fastest1]

Fortunately the G540 is an incredible little device. It contains a BOB (breakout board) and 4 drivers. It can operate on various power supplies up to 48vdc. In regards to power supplies. Generally you wont be using 3 axis to their extremes simultaneously.

[Fastest1]

Hold off on the peripherals til the machine is up and running. Plenty of vendors sell the products you mention. At reasonable prices too.

[DJR25]

I ended up purchasing the gecko g540 with a 48V, 8.3A power supply and what should be enough supporting accessories to get the machine up and running. I'm hoping for it to show up tomorrow Fri 11/6 giving me a chance to get into it this weekend. I have a couple diagrams and mach3 setup for the g540 that I'll attach to this post for anyone that is following along. Mods, let me know if I post anything that you feel I shouldn't. Also, there's a good chance I'll be migrating to the gecko forum on this site until I get everything working accordingly.

-Doug
Attachment 255924

[Fastest1]

Keep it all here. We are all familiar with the G540.

[DICKEYBIRD]

Hi Doug, don't throw away the Denford controller, I may be interested in it. Take a couple pics of it when you take it out.

Thanks,
Milton

[DJR25]

Alright, will do.

-Doug